Record and controversies

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Environmental record

Howard Dean

Cantor is a staunch supporter of Israel and recently assailed Howard Dean for referring to the Republican Party as a "white, Christian party." [1] Cantor is the only Jewish Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives. [2]

Blunt-Abramoff-DeLay-Cantor

Blunt and "his staff have close connections to uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is the subject of criminal and congressional probes. In June 2003, Mr. Abramoff persuaded Majority Leader Tom DeLay to organize a letter, co-signed by Speaker Hastert, Whip Roy Blunt, and Deputy Whip Eric Cantor, that endorsed a view of gambling law benefitting Mr. Abramoff's client, the Louisiana Coushatta, by blocking gambling competition by another tribe. Mr. Abramoff has donated $8,500 to Rep. Blunt's leadership PAC, Rely on Your Beliefs," according to the Beyond DeLay website.

Bio

Background

Cantor was born June 6, 1963 in Richmond, Virginia. He attended George Washington University, received his law degree from the College of William and Mary, and did graduate work at Columbia University. After working in private practice as a lawyer, Cantor was elected to the Virginia State House of Delegates, serving there from 1992 to 2000, when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Congressional campaign

Cantor is described as "a rising star in the GOP who emerged last year as DeLay's foremost congressional defender." He was in consideration to become Tom DeLay's replacement as House Majority Leader, but John Boehner was tapped instead, leading to speculation about Cantor's future in the party leadership. [3]

House leadership, fundraising

"Cantor was named to leadership by Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) in December 2002 at the conclusion of his first term in Washington. The honor came with an added duty of establishing and funding a leadership PAC to help other members in close contests," Patrick O'Connor wrote July 20, 2005, in The Hill.

"His office set an initial goal of $300,000 for that first year and eclipsed it, said Cantor's chief of staff, Rob Collins. Then he set the ambitious goal of $1 million for the second year and was able to eclipse that by $43,000."

"In 2004, during just his second year in leadership, Cantor raised more than $1 million for his Every Republican Is Crucial PAC (ERICPAC), and he is off to an early start so far this cycle. By the end of May, he had given $279,027 to federal candidates, $127,000 more than any other member of the Republican leadership, according to PoliticalMoneyLine, which tracks campaign contributions," O'Connor wrote.

"Last cycle, Cantor ranked fifth of the six members of leadership in both the total combined receipts that his personal campaign and leadership PAC had raised, with $3.9 million, and in donations he had given to federal candidates, with just over $1 million. But in 2004, the second year of that cycle, he came in third behind House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas).

Cantor has "utilized his ties" to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which he became involved with "10 years ago as a member of the Virginia Legislature," and the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) as part of his fundraising "outreach." "He has since cultivated those ties during his political ascendancy over the past decade and used them to build the foundation of his national fundraising network," O'Connor wrote

Resources

Letter from Reps. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Tom DeLay (R-Texas), Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) to Interior Secretary Gale Norton on June 10, 2003. The letter opposed an expansion of gambling by some Indian tribes that would have cut into the gambling profits of another tribe that was a client of lobbyist and convicted felon Jack Abramoff.